The Talk
by Scotty1609
Summary: The Justice League asks Nightwing to give the Team a talk... No, not THAT talk. A talk about depression after Artemis's death... READ THE WARNINGS!


**WARNINGS: mentions of cutting and suicide.**

**I do not own Young Justice.**

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The atmosphere was thick, full of dread and expectancy. A large group of teenagers and young adults sat in a room full of pull-out chairs. Some people had moved into groups. Garfield sat with his 'sister', who was still grieving over the loss of La'gaan. Cassie sat with Karen, Mal, and Jaime over nearer to a corner of the room. Karen was leaning into Mal's embrace, and Cassie sat close to Jaime, as if his strength would seep into her is he sat close enough. Robin and Batgirl sat together as well, Connor standing aside, but close enough to keep an eye on them. Bart stood away from the whole group, leaning against the wall and holding himself tightly.

There came a _swoosh_, the doors opening and shutting, and all eyes turned to see Nightwing standing in the doorframe. He had a sad smile on his face that anyone, much less a detective, could tell you was fake. Slowly, taking a deep sigh, Nightwing moved to the front of the dank room. He pulled up a chair and straddled it, resting his arm and chin on the back of it. His masked eyes swept over the room, and he _really_ wished that Dinah had been asked to talk to the kids, and not him.

Connor moved a bit towards his teammate, as if to try and protect him. Superboy had always been protective of Robin back in the days, but now, he seemed even more protective of everyone, having lost a valued teammate.

Nightwing let out another deep sigh, coming straight from his chest, and began his tirade. "The League asked me to speak with you guys today…" His eyes closed behind his mask, then opened slowly to see the tearful eyes, the angry eyes, the sad eyes staring at him.

"I know this is hard, losing a teammate… And it's… hard… I don't know how else to say it." Nightwing ran a hand through his hair, pulling it back and off of his forehead. "I know how you all feel, trust me, I really do. I can't put a number on how many people I've lost, I've seen die… But we move on. It's hard, but we manage."

Cassie stood up, suddenly furious. Her chair flew back with her super strength. "_How_ do _you_ understand?" The girl had grown close to Artemis before she left the Team with Wally. "How can you not show any emotion about this? She was _your_ teammate longer than she was any of ours-" Cassie's voice broke, and she began to sob. Jaime was instantly standing, helping Cassie into his chair and patting her back, rubbing consoling circles into her shoulder.

Nightwing felt grief pound through his chest. _If only they knew…_

"I know. I understand. I feel it, too, Cassie… And you're right, Artemis was a great teammate…" He chuckled darkly. "Sorry about the emotion, though. Not much I can do… Bats aren't really the _emotional_ kind of people…" He got a few laughs at that before the room turned dark again.

"But I'm here for a different reason," Nightwing spoke. It was a surprise to everybody, and all ears tuned in. "The League asked me to step in to talk to you guys about something… different." He took a breath. "Depression.

"As heroes, it's easy to fall into depression… With what we see, what we deal with everyday… Not to mention most of you in school, along with family issues…" His eyes drifted behind his mask over to Robin, then Garfield, and finally resting upon Jaime. Nobody saw his focus behind the dark fabric, of course, but the three boys seemed to sense eyes upon them. "But you all have something good out of this, trust me. You have another family, now. You have a team, a team of not only teammates, but also friends. Friends that are mostly willing to listen.

"I know for a fact that Connor, M'gaan, and myself are always here for you all." Looking at the two, he received nods. "But that's not always enough… You all need to practice self-discipline, patience with yourself, and peace-"

"What do you know about depression?" Garfield asked glumly, looking down at his chest.

Nightwing froze at this, and M'gaan and Connor exchanged worried glances. Slowly, Nightwing began to remove his boots and gloves.

"Nightwing-" Connor began, taking a step forward, but the younger hero put a hand up to stop him. After a few silent moments, Connor sighed and leaned back against the wall, though it was easily seen that he was tenser than before.

Nightwing began to roll up his sleeves and pants, earning several audible gasps from the others, especially Batgirl and Robin.

All along his calves and forearms were long, thin white scars.

"I know a whole lot about being depressed…" he said softly, looking back up at the Team. "I watched my parents be murdered in front of me when I was eight. I began cutting when I was eleven." He snorted softly. "I started on my arms. This is the first cut I ever made." He pointed to a rather small and thin pink line on his arm, almost blending in with his skin. "I continued until I was thirteen… That's when Kid Flash found out." Nightwing almost smiled at the memory. "He threatened me to no ends about if I did it again, what would happen, what _could_ happen, etcetera…

"But that didn't stop me." Nightwing lifted up a leg to prop it over the back of his chair. Numerous white cuts covered the muscle of his calf. "I started cutting where no one could see it past my costume. I always felt victorious whenever I made a single cut." He scowled to himself, angry at his stupidity. "I was so stupid… Harming yourself does _nothing_. It does _nothing_ to solve your problems. _Nothing_ to help you get over your trials…"

He paused for a few moments. Slowly, Jaime raised his hand. Nightwing looked to him.

"What- what made you stop?"

Nightwing glanced at Connor, smirking. "This guy. _He _found out when I was fifteen. He was so pissed that he actually punched me. I was stuck in the med bay for a whole week." Everybody laughed or smiled, and Nightwing grinned at Connor, who was blushing.

"I _said_ I was sorry."

"Uh _huh_…"

"… Just shut up and finish your story."

Nightwing looked to the others. "But even that didn't stop me. When I turned sixteen-" Nightwing froze. Tears filled his eyes, and he tried to gulp away a knot in his throat. "I tried to commit suicide."

The statement made everybody freeze. M'gaan's shoulders began to shake, showing that she was weeping silently.

"W-What happened?" Karen asked fearfully. She had never heard of this side of Nightwing's story.

"Batman found me. He was _sooo_ pissed. I was grounded forever… But he was also upset." Nightwing felt the tears in his eyes threatening to boil over. "God, was he mad… And scared…" Nightwing looked up to the others. "I stopped cutting that day. Never again."

He let out a shuddering sigh, his shoulders heavy. "You have so many people that love you, that care about you." He looked up at the others, smiling. "And if you think you don't, you at least have one."

Everybody seemed melancholy over the 'meeting'. Nightwing clapped his hands together. "So, if you ever want to talk, come to me." He stood, dusting off his chair. "I'll be ready to lis- _ooph_!"

Bart was clinging to Nightwing's torso for dear life, sobbing into his chest. Nightwing looked at him, shocked at first. But his face suddenly melted, and he hugged Bart back.

"D-D-Don't _ever_ try th-th-that again!" Bart wept.

Nightwing rubbed the speedster's back, kissing his head softly. "I won't, I promise."

All of a sudden, Garfield and Robin joined in the embrace. Both Garfield and Bart were weeping openly, while Robin was trying to hide his silent shudders. Nightwing bit his lip.

"You can talk to us, too, Dick…" Garfield whispered into Nightwing's stomach. That broke something in the young man. He didn't know what it was, but it broke and flooded his body like a busted dam. Nightwing buried his face in Robin's hair, crying silently.

He could feel the arms encircling him as the whole Team joined in the hug. Then, they all heard, "ACK! Hey, shape-shifter being crushed, here!"

Everyone laughed, but continued hugging.

In the shadows, Batman watched. He let out a shuddering sigh, refusing to wipe away the single tear that _was not_ currently falling down his cheek. _He'll be fine, Bruce… He's gonna be okay…_

And he was.

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**And I will be here for you guys!**

**Any prayer requests you have, I will pray for you! And if you are having depression issues, PLEASE contact a help center or just tell a parent, friend, school counsiler, ANYBODY that can HELP you!**

**And also, please review!**


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